Little House Cafe

With UTStarcom’s news and likely move to China over the next few weeks, it’s worth asking: what companies can be expected to stay around the Island for a while?

Perforce Software – with its bright yellow and purple buildings on Blanding (off Park) — could be one such company.

The company does not have publicly traded stock, so its plans and financial condition are not public news, which makes it hard to follow. And it could be bought up by another larger firm, especially if its current success continues.

However, it doesn’t do most of its business in Asia, as UTStarcom does, though its international operations include Europe, Japan and Australia.

In 2009, it was ranked as the tenth best place to work by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal and the San Francisco Business Times – for companies with 50-100 employees. (Half of its executives are women.)

Its software is used by game developers and software developers in industries like electonics and pharmaceuticals. It has 320,000 users at 5,000 client organizations.

Perhaps best of all, it set up and supports Little House Cafe, right next to the company’s headquarters. The cafe is a nice place for software types and residents alike to enjoy a break and appreciate Alameda.

Let’s hope this restaurant and the operations that brought it to life hang around.

This year’s event was sponsored by the Little House Cafe at 2300 Blanding Ave. (The building, owned by Perforce Software, resides in a 1904 Colonial Revival residence constructed in 1904 and restored by Perforce.)

This year’s tour included six historic homes in the Queen Anne, Arts & Crafts and Storybook styles.

On Central Avenue, tour participants got to visit an 1895 Queen Anne now owned by Alan Teague. It was built for a lumber merchant and designed by Denis Straub & Son, according to historian Woody Minor.

Teague has put in a small labyrinth in the backyard.

Alameda residents Brian McDonald and Keri Spalding enjoyed the tour and were also responsible for putting up posters around town to promote it. This is their 10th tour. McDonald says his family has had two homes in Alameda and like the TV character Gilligan, the family “doesn’t go off the Island.”

Mae Wade, Sharon Stone and other family members come together from all over the East Bay to take the tour each year; many of the Wade-Stone family members grew up in Alameda. “We always do the tour,” said Cecilia Wade, “and we really enjoy it.”

Next on the Alameda Architectural Preservation Society’s agenda is a historic look at Alameda Point, set for 7 p.m. Sunday, October 18, when local architect and Navy veteran Dick Rutter presents a talk: “The History of the Naval Air Station Alameda.” The venue is the First Presbyterian Church at Santa Clara and Chestnut. There is a fee of $5 for those who aren’t members of the AAPS.